Sunday 19 April 2009
(KOF / LMJ) This Sunday is the crowning glory of the Great Holy Week - it is Easter and the Orthodox Church celebrates the Holy Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!
An employee of "Catholic-Orthodox friendship" was there and tells of the Easter celebrations of the Greek Orthodox church "prophet Elijah" in Frankfurt / Main.
Brief overview of the Orthodox Holy Week: During
expected back in Roman Catholic tradition of Lent to Easter forty days, the Orthodox Lent prepares the faithful for the entire "Big Week" before - it ends on the Friday before Palm Sunday. The long weekend is the "Lazarus Saturday" - it does the resurrection of Lazarus as a view of the great Easter festival and sings exceptionally well, therefore all the passages that are normally reserved for the Sunday.
Palm Sunday is devoted to the entry into Jerusalem and they also spread palm branches are blessed at the end of Lauds. Throughout history, the Orthodox celebration of Easter by half a day have moved - on Sunday night, one is already singing the lauds (Orthros) from the Big Monday. While on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday then in the morning once the liturgy of the vorgeheiligten gifts will be celebrated, Wednesday evening from the great anointing of the sick is marked, will bring together, in the ideal case, seven priests and all the faithful present the consecrated to this ceremony sick oil salben.
Am Morgen des Großen Donnerstages findet die Basiliosliturgie im Gedenken an das letzte Abendmahl statt, in größeren Kirchen wird hier auch nach der Kommunionspendung die Fußwaschung vollzogen. Am Abend feiert man schon den Morgengottesdienst vom Freitag – hier haben wir uns in die Feierlichkeiten der Griechischen Gemeinde von Frankfurt eingeklinkt:
Ostern 2009 in der griechisch-orthodoxen Kirche in Frankfurt/Main:
Es ist etwas turbulent in Frankfurt – die griechische Kirche steckt mitten im Umbau und Ostern steht an. Eigentlich ist das Gotteshaus derzeit nur ein trister, hässlicher Rohbau – Pressspan, Beton und rohe Wände prägen hier das Bild. Doch die Griechen are indeed like chaotic, but at the same time incredibly creative again: Every week you turn the site into a place of worship, hang on icons to clear a rolling chairs, carpets, and set the altar in the newly built sanctuary. On Holy Thursday they expect with great joy their "old" parish priest who was ordained as bishop a few years ago and now supported as a vicar bishop of the Metropolitan of Germany.
(Picture: Bishop Bartholomew in Frankfurt in February 2009)
is quick to improvise, to present a worthy bishop's throne, then start the service already. Twelve Gospels are required. hear the very beginning If the farewell discourses in John's Gospel. Even in this twenty-minute passage, the situation is compressed more and more - the Lord takes a final time to instruct his disciples to take into the future, for his crucifixion moves in inexorable close - brings the time of day it even is that with each minute is always dark. After the fifth pericope suddenly go suddenly all the lights out - the Bishop takes the large altar cross, moves through the dark church and sings in an impressive way:
hangs today on a tree, the earth has hung over the waters, is a crown of thorns the King of angels entwined. To ridicule wird in Purpur gehüllt, der den Himmel in Wolken kleidet, Backenstreiche erhält, der im Jordan den Adam befreite. Mit Nägeln wird der Bräutigam der Kirche angeheftet, mit der Lanze der Sohn der Jungfrau durchbohrt. Wir beten deine Leiden an, Christus! Wir beten deine Leiden an, Christus! Wir beten deine Leiden an, Christus! Zeige uns auch deine herrliche Auferstehung."
Von diesem Moment an treten alle Gläubigen nach vorne, küssen dem Bischof die Hand und verehren das nun in der Mitte aufgestellte Kreuz, während die Lesung der Evangelien fortgesetzt wird.
Die ganze Nacht ist nun die Kirche geöffnet und die Frauen beginnen in dieser Zeit, den Baldachin für das Grabtuch zu schmücken - This has to do a parallel to the myrrh-bearing women in the Gospel.
sets himself on Friday continued the Passion: The Gospel of the burial of the body is removed from the cross and wrapped in a white cloth, the ninth hour is heard again in striking ways the so marked by paradoxes hymn. In the evening, then the larger Lamentation follows at the grave.
(Image: Lamentation at the grave with Metropolitan Augoustinos)
has again been announced in Frankfurt eminences: This time it's the Metropolitan in person, always venerated the grave cloth scented with incense and holy water. Then follows the great procession through the streets, when even the sky is crying. Again and again the funeral hymns are sung while the priest, Father Athinagoras, unconventional on something, or rather Greco-chaotic manner brings together some people to gain for the litany of a "ladder bandit" without a microphone hearing ...
Back to the Church through all believers in the grave cloth through the Friday and thus finds its conclusion.
Since - as mentioned above - is the entire Holy Week by half a day moved forward, is already celebrated on Saturday evening Vespers followed Basiliosliturgie. While the celebrant who at the beginning still dark robes wird es plötzlich ziemlich laut: Zum Hymnus nach der Epistellesung singt Vater Athinagoras mit kraftvoller Stimme „Stehe auf, o Gott, richte die Erde, denn du erbst aus allen Völkern“, kommt in helle Gewänder gekleidet aus der Sakristei und wirft zusammen mit seinem Konzelebranten grüne Blätter in den Kirchenraum.
Gekrönt wird dieses Ereignis nur noch durch die Frauen im hinteren Bereich, die auf Backbleche, Schüsseln und Töpfe schlagen und so geradezu den Heiland dazu herausfordern, aus dem Grab zu kommen. Als unvorbereiteter Besucher bekommt man so etwas wie einen „heiligen Schreck“ – denn es lässt niemanden kalt, was hier geschieht – und wieder tut sich im Hinterkopf A thought from the Bible to where it says: "As they left the grave and fled with trembling and horror they had seized." (Mark 16:8)
After the liturgy, the program of the Great Saturday is over. We also come to rest and prepare for the real, big highlight of the fest - the Easter Vigil.
At 23:00 clock we are back in the Church: Once again, the sadness of Good Friday hymns sung - again, the Church is completely darkened. Around midnight, something is stirring at the altar - the Easter fire is lit and blessed it in the place where the body came to rest since Friday. Now the new light sung and applies a time, to the pastor, two large torches holds in his hand and shouts "Come, take light from the eternal light and glorify Christ, Risen from the dead." Suddenly, the faithful rush to him and try to be the first to ignite their Easter candle to it.
In joyful song now takes the whole congregation before the church: There has been specifically blocked the road, because this year are about 3,000 Greeks gathered for Easter. Solemnly sung on a platform the Easter Gospel and finally heard the long-awaited call: CHRIST IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD, DEATH IN THE DEATH OF HE AND THOSE IN THE TOMBS trampling GIFT OF LIFE. While the vast Amount many times the solemn Ostertroparion intones, Athinagoras father calls again and again "Χριστὸς ἀνέστη (Christós anésti / Christ is risen)
- all respond:" Αληθώς ανέστη (wished each anésti / he is truly risen) and vote again in the Easter songs one. Thus, the celebrants go back to church and set there on the morning service. Each ode is the concelebrants, Martino's father, with the censer by the Church and calls the faithful again to the Easter message.
So ends the Easter Vigil with the ceremonial Chrysostomosliturgie, hit again, and numerous Easter eggs Easter wishes shortly before 3 clock.
The party is not over yet: At 12 clock come again all the faithful together on "Vespers of Love." appears with a large delay of 30 minutes and "already" of the priest and the Vespers begins.
have again lit their candles all, again sung many times the "Χριστὸς ἀνέστη", and again we hear the Easter Gospel. The resurrection of John the Evangelist, is sung in many languages: Greek, German, French, English, English, Russian and Latin: The whole world should know it - Christ is truly risen! Once again, the celebrants go through the church and throw the rose petals that have been the canopy of cloth adorned grave.
is with great pleasure that the Easter celebration continued in the church grounds: it has organized a large parish festival in typical Greek fashion, and now hundreds of people sitting in the pavilion to dance, sing, eat and celebrate. Here, too, do the amiable, chaotic conditions of the Greeks felt: no serious long-term planning, how meat, cake and coffee will be purchased, but the festival itself it is difficult to save food the miracle of the "food generation" in Greek works almost constantly. Nor is
people understand where the used dishes being brought, but at the same strange way, it comes back but in its place. Something must be left to the Greeks: they organize everything but very haphazard, but they know the situation - and with full conviction! It fascinates almost a German, as well the things without them meticulously thought have. So the Easter Sunday ends with this big party - Christ is risen, and the Orthodox Church celebrates missed the highest of the year, which committed after the big Lenten more intense wird.
Der Erlös des Festes kommt einer guten und wichtigen Sache zugute: Der dringend nötig gewordene Umbau der Kirche muss vollendet und finanziert werden. Die griechisch-orthodoxe Gemeinde „Prophet Elias“ am Westbahnhof von Frankfurt ist ein Geheimtipp – hier einmal vorbeizuschauen, die Göttliche Liturgie zu erleben und die Menschen zu treffen ist ein ganz einmaliges Erlebnis, welches ich jedem Interessierten empfehlen kann! Insbesondere ist an dieser Stelle die Göttliche Liturgie in deutscher Sprache zu nennen, die immer am 4. Samstag* des Monats um 09.30 Uhr zelebriert wird.
Ludwig Martin Jetschke
Kontakt: ludwig[at]katholisch-orthodoxe-freundschaft.de
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